


Forcing Reality

by esama



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Random Hikago Event, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 11:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7712710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esama/pseuds/esama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If I am going to be seeing things, then I'm going to be seeing what <i>I</i> want to see."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forcing Reality

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by Darlene, many thanks

Hikaru paced the length of his room angrily, avoiding looking at the – the – the thing. He still kept seeing it in the corner of his eye every time he turned, though, this white shape, sitting at the foot of his bed, the lower half of his – its damnit – face hidden under a wide sleeve. He – it – was watching him.

Watching Hikaru not watch him.

Damnit.

"I'm seeing things," Hikaru muttered. "Why am I seeing things and if I really have to see things why is it things like this? Like what the hell man?"

"Um," the thing said. "I am just one – uh – thing."

"Okay now I'm hearing things too, this is getting better," Hikaru muttered and did not look at the guy – the thing – sitting at the foot of his bed because it wasn't real, it was just a thing he was seeing and it wasn't real. He'd seen his mom walk right through the thing earlier. So it wasn't real. So he was seeing things.

"Thing," the thing said. "A single thing. But I am not a thing."

"Hallucinations are bad, right?" Hikaru asked, not of the thing because it wasn't real damn it, and its opinion didn't even matter. "They're like – something's wrong with me. With my brain. I hit my head or – or I'm, I might be…" he trailed off and stopped – his back to the _thing_  to keep it out of his line of sight.

He was insane. Great.

"You are really not, I promise," the thing said behind him anxiously. "I swear, there is nothing wrong with your brain. It is just, it is, rather than there being something wrong with your mind, I am… occupying it?"

Hikaru's shoulders tensed at that – damnit the thing sounded just like a real person, and it said it was occupying his brain. So it knew it was a figment of his imagination too! Were hallucinations supposed to know that stuff – wasn't the whole thing with them that they tried to pass for reality? Wasn't that why brains came up with stuff like that – to fool themselves into thinking there was something there when there was? What was the _thing's_  point in admitting it was a _thing_.'

"I am not a thing!" the _thing_  said despairingly. "I am – I was – I am a person! My name is Fujiwara no Sai, I had a life, I had dreams and wishes – I was the Go tutor of an Emperor, I –"

Okay, a bit more on par with the whole hallucination thing, Hikaru mused grimly and rubbed at his forehead. His hallucination had illusions of grandeur. Go related grandeur. What the actual heck, brain, seriously? Why did he have to hallucinate something lame like this?

"I am not – I swear –" the thing sputtered, half offended. "I am not a hallucination, I swear to you. I can even prove it to you!"

Hikaru clenched his hands as he saw a flash of white in the corner of his eye – the thing, pressing up against a wall and then, as he _did not watch he was not watching at all his eyes were nailed on the opposite wall_  the thing passed trough the wall.

"There are four people walking down the street, two of them women – one of them has a dog," the thing said through the wall. "There are those noisy metal carriages along the street, one of them is a most vivid orange in colour."

Hikaru scowled at that – no, at the wall opposite from the thing because _he was not acknowledging his hallucination_. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?" _Damnit._

"It means I can – just look!" the thing said and then it was right there, at his side – tugging at his arm. "Look, look out side the window, tell me I am wrong!"

His hallucination could not only touch him but move him and as it did, Hikaru despaired at the state of his poor, obviously holey brain, that it could let itself get into such a state. Then he was at the window, and looking down and – yeah, that was a very bright orange car. And there were four people out. One had a dog.

"That doesn't prove anything," Hikaru objected.

"I does too!" the thing said. "See, you did not know those things were there before I told you so – and if I were a mere figment of your imagination then surely I could not possibly know anything that you do not!"

Hikaru's eyes narrowed and he made the mistake of looking at the thing and, damn. It really looked so real – except, not. Because what kind of _real thing_  looked like that? What kind of _person_  looked like that?

"They're hallucinations too," Hikaru decided. "The people, the car – probably the whole street." His eyes widened and his heart sank heavily as realisation struck him. "Oh my god, what if my whole life is a hallucination and I'm actually stuck in hospital somewhere, imagining this whole room, the house, everything?!"

"It is not a hallucination!" the obvious hallucination of a pretty Heian nobleman shouted, waving his hallusionary arms everywhere. "I am real, this is all real!"

"You're not real – mom walked through you and never saw you!" Hikaru shouted back, pointing a finger at him. "You're a fake thing!"

 "I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!" the thing said and let out a frustrated huff. "What can I do to prove to you that I am not a hallucination!"

"Stop being hallusionary!" Hikaru ordered accusingly.

"That is not a word!" the thing answered in a desperate wail.

"Is too!"

The thing let out a little huff of agitation and made a face that was less angry and more pouty really. "I am," he said slowly, "a ghost. My name is Fujiwara no Sai –"

"And I am going to stop you right there because _ghosts aren't real_!" Hikaru said with a huff of his own. "You can't use ghosts as a defence, what is that even supposed to prove?! You're just saying that you're not fake because you're busy being _another_  fake thing!"

"I'm not fake!" the thing shouted and actually stamped its foot. "And ghosts aren't fake – just because you don't know something or haven't seen it before, that doesn't mean it's fake! Or do you think that – that – are foreign nations are fake? Are distant landmarks you've never visited fake?"

"Well no, but those are real things," Hikaru said.

"What proof do you have?" the thing asked slyly.

"There's, like, all the proof. There's so much proof. Pictures and videos and stuff – all of the proof!"

"Are you sure that is real?" the thing asked, leaning in. "Are you _sure_?"

Hikaru stopped, drawing a breath and stopping. "Oh my god nothing's real," he whispered. "I'm living in a world of lies!"

"No, that it not – I do not mean that – " the thing stopped, staring at him in helpless frustration. "It is –all of it is real. I promise you foreign nations are real."

"But what if they aren't?" Hikaru asked, his eyes wide. "What if nothing's real?"

The thing just stared at him, opening his – its mouth – and then closing it again, looking confused. "It is all real," he said finally. _It_  said. Because it wasn't real.

Maybe nothing was real.

Hikaru stared at him – it – for a long moment, his brain tripping over the sudden, vast awakening of entirely too much philosophical thinking about the nature of reality and humanity. Then he blinked and looked away and rubbed at his forehead. His head was aching.

"I don't want everything to be fake," he muttered.

"That is alright then, because everything is not fake," the thing that was a fake thing said. "It is all real, I promise."

"That's what a fake thing would say," Hikaru said and collapsed to sit on his bed.

The fake thing huffed, and sat slowly on the floor at his feet and just – what the hell. It was one thing for him to imagine the thing, but to have it be like _this_ , that was just, it was, that was the weirdest part of it. Why was he imagining it like that?

"Because you are not," the thing said with forced patience. "You are not imagining me."

"Am too," Hikaru muttered.

"Are not," the thing said and then seemed to get an idea. "Do you know what I have in my sleeve?"

Hikaru frowned and thought about it. "No," he said.

"If you were imagining me, shouldn't you know?" the thing pressed.

"Fine. You've got a gun? A rifle. Golf ball – uh, no, why would you even – Go stones!" That was what the whole damn hallucination was about, wasn't it? "You've got a whole goban in there, don't you?"

The thing produced a delicate looking paper fan and opened it in front of its face. His face. Its face.

Hikaru stared at him despairingly. He really should've seen it coming, what with the whole Heian prince theme and all. Either he was so far gone that his own hallucination could totally fake him out – hah, a fake thing faking someone out, such jokes – or, or –

"Or I'm real," the thing said gently.

"Mom walked through you," Hikaru said again accusingly.

"Alright, I am a ghost – but a real ghost!" the thing said quickly. "A real, true, honest _ghost_. Not in any way false."

Hikaru stared some more.

The – the – what was it again?

"Fujiwara no Sai, I was the Go tutor for the Emperor and –"

Hikaru lifted a hand, stopping him. It. Him. It. "Am I seeing you?" Hikaru asked sharply. "Or are you, just, a thing only I can see?"

"Um," was the eloquent answer. "I am – what?"

Hikaru took a breath. "You said – occupying my brain. And a ghost. So, uh. You're possessing me? I mean, if you're real… or a ghost, a real ghost, whatever. You're possessing me? My head?"

"Um," came the eloquent answer again. "I, yes, I think – yes, that is… how I believe it is, yes."

"So," Hikaru said and swallowed. "Am I _seeing you_  because you're in my head, or am I seeing you, because you're actually _there_?"

The thing, Fujiwara no Sai, stared at him helplessly. "Uh. Yes," the thing, Sai, answered.

"Yes," Hikaru repeated.

Sai hesitated, flicking his fan open and shut nervously. "Yes," he repeated finally and braced himself.

Hikaru nodded and then flopped back on his bed with a groan. "So, actually hallucinating. Maybe hallucinating an actual ghost that's actually possessing my brain, but hallucinations are a thing that's happening."

Sai cleared his not-even-real throat. "I – I understand that this must be very – I know that it must be an inconvenience," he said awkwardly. "And, and you're afraid and – and distraught. But I am _very_  grateful to you! It has been so long since anyone could see me, and I know it must be terrible for you, but…"

Hikaru let the babble wash over him, glaring at the ceiling deep in thought as he internalised the concept of hallucinations as part of his life now. "I am never visiting Grandpa ever again," he muttered. "Bad for mental health. Gave me hallucinations."

"– and I wished to play Go, more than anything. I could not move on at all, I could not let myself rest, so strong was my desire to play Go, to see more, to learn more, to grow strong and see those around me grow strong also! I wished to see Go develop and change over the years and, so, I remained –"

Hikaru's scowl deepened. Why, of all things, did his hallucination have to be about an _old man game?_  Real or not, it was just so uncool, so utterly lame that he kind of felt it sucking the natural coolness out of him just by existing, just by being a _concept that was somehow attached to his life now_. Go. An ancient Heian ghost that wanted to play Go – it was just… so, so lame.

Hikaru scrunched up his face. "Why, o why, can't I hallucinate something more _modern_?"

Sai came up to a halt and hesitated. "Um," he said. "I do not know? I am sorry."

Hikaru grunted and sat up again, looking at him. Yup, still an ancient Heian prince. Great. "You like Go?" he asked,

"Yes!" Sai said excitedly.

"You want to play more Go?"

"Yes!" Sai said and almost glowed with excitement.

"I don't," Hikaru said flatly. "Nuh uh. Not ever. You know what _I_  want to play? I want to play that!" he said and pointed at the PlayStation sitting by the small TV at the side of the room. "I want to play _video games_! That's what I want to play, not your dumb old man game with its dumb boring board! I want stuff with stats and quests and _interesting stuff,_  not this… this. You! And Go! Who even plays Go?!"

Sai drew a breath that hitched like a sob and his lower lip quivered. "I – I am sorry! I – " he trailed away, leaning away from Hikaru. "I am sorry."

Hikaru glared at him, then at the PlayStation – why couldn't _it_  possess him? Ghost of the PlayStation, he'd be game – hah – for that.

Then he stopped to consider.

"I'm seeing things," he said and motioned at Sai and then himself and back. "Some of this is coming from my brain. Right?"

Sai said nothing, just eyed him warily.

Hikaru nodded determinately and then pressed his fingertips against his temples and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "Video game, video game, video game," he murmured, trying to force his own brain into submission.  His hallucinating brain. "If I am going to be seeing things I'm going to be seeing what _I_  want to see, and what I want to see is my life becoming a video game!"

Silence followed that. Hikaru squeezed his eyes shut tighter and thought about it hard enough for his head to _hurt_. He could feel his eyes going cross eyed under his lids. It kind of hurt too. But if he opened his eyes now and found Sai there and nothing different then – then – he wasn't sure what then. But if he couldn't even control what things he was seeing when he started _seeing things_  –

Sai let out a gasp and Hikaru's eyes popped open and –

[Go Tutor]  
[ **Fujiwara no Sai** ]  
[LVL 99+]  
[HP 0 / MP 999+]

Hikaru blinked. It was just there, hovering above Sai's head, this bit of glowing white text. It was just – there. But not. Translucent – like Sai himself. Real but unreal.

Sai blinked back at him – or rather, at something hovering above _Hikaru's_  head too. Hikaru tilted his head back to look, but if there was something there it either moved when he did, or he just couldn't see it. "What is it?" Hikaru asked eagerly.

"There is – it is –" Sai said, blinking and shifting uneasily. "I can see writing above your head. It says; Number Five, Shindo Hikaru, LVL two, and uh, HP thirteen and MP five?"

Hikaru stared at him. Then looked up at the text above Sai's head, which really did move when he did, as if it was nailed onto the top of his head. Then Hikaru looked around with new eyes – almost literally. Because he could _see things._

There were faint outlines on everything he looked at. The shelf, the books and manga in it, the stuff on top of it, the TV, the PlayStation, everything he looked at got _highlighted._   As if by looking at it, he was selecting it. And when he looked for longer… he saw more text, hovering next to the thing.

[ **Basic small CRT television** ]  
[A basic television set for viewing moving images. Currently hooked up to a PlayStation.]  
[Weight: 6.4 kg]  
[Value: 12300 yen]

[ **PlayStation** ]  
[A video game console. Currently hooked onto Basic Small CRT Television.]  
[Weight: 1.5 kg]  
[Value: 30500 yen]

[ **Medium Desk Lamp** ]  
[Source of ambient light.]  
[Weight: 0.3 kg]  
[Value: 2800 yen]

Hikaru blinked at that and then looked at Sai a little longer, narrowing his eyes. A see-through rectangle, like a speech bubble in manga, popped up next to the ghost.

[ **Thousand Years** ]  
[Fujiwara no Sai is a thousand year old ghost who in life was the Go tutor to the Emperor. As one of two tutors, he was tasked with teaching the Emperor's family and close friends the intricacies of the board game Go.]  
[Quest (1/?): Learn more about Fujiwara no Sai.]  
[Reward: 300 exp, 5 FP with Fujiwara no Sai.]  
[Accept Quest: Yes / No]

Sai stared at it, his eyes wide, "Um," he said slowly. "What…?"

Hikaru said, "I'm _seeing_  things," and grinned.

* * *

 

 

"Okay this? This is bullshit," Hikaru announced.

[ **History Homework** ]  
[Learn about the Taiga reforms and their impact on local and national politics and economy.]  
[Quest (3/?): Fill in 20 questions about Taiga reforms.]  
[Reward: history grade alteration.]  
[Accept quest: Yes / No]

"Seriously, bullshit," Hikaru said. "There's not even exp or anything! What's the point in quests when you can't even use them to progress?"

All the quests were like that too. Running chores for his nom: no exp. Jogging his way to school: no exp. Doing homework: no exp. Not even when he did an extra assignments for school, or chores without being prompted to, nothing. And it wasn't just that either. His clothes had no stats, there was no convenient bottomless inventory for him to stick everything into, food gave him no buffs what so ever...

What was the freaking point in the whole thing when he didn't even get experience from anything and couldn't level up? His stats remained, stubbornly, the same.

[Number 5]  
[ **Shindo Hikaru** ]  
[LVL 2]  
[HP 13 / MP 5]

The only comfort Hikaru had was the fact that his mom was level 1, too. His dad, however, was level 7. His grandfather was level 24. He had HP of 10, and he was level 24??

"There's no logic to this goddamn thing! Just how am I supposed to even –" Hikaru started ranting, waving his hand through the spot atop his head where he knew the stubborn stats remained. Sai watched him from the side, uneasily fiddling with his sleeves. Sai, the bastard, with his LVL 99+ and his 0 HP and 999+ MP.

How was it fair that a _ghost_  had better stats than anybody? How did that even make sense?

"I think perhaps you are seeing this… this game the wrong way?" Sai asked awkwardly, shifting where he was sitting. "I do not think it works the way you assume it does."

"What do you know? You don't even know what a video game is!"

"Well… I did not before," Sai admitted and glanced at the TV and the PlayStation hooked into it. "But you have been, ah, talking about nothing else, so I think I have a good enough idea how it works. And your assumption that… that this," he motioned around them, "should work the same… might be wrong."

Hikaru glared at him. "Alright, then – how is it supposed to work, then?"

"I don't know about _supposed to_  but…" Sai hesitated. "Your grandfather is level twenty four. Your father, seven," he said. "They… both play Go, yes? Your grandfather even boasted great skill."

Hikaru stared at him flatly – stared at him long enough for the [Thousand Years] quest window to pop up. It floated between him and Sai, visible to only them, and Sai cleared his throat and pointed.

There, the quest reward – it included 300 exp.

"You're kidding me," Hikaru said flatly. "They're about Go."

"I – yes, I think so?" Sai said almost apologetically.

"The whole thing is about Go," Hikaru said. "My life became a video game… about Go. Mom's never played so her level is 1. Dad learned from grandpa, so… his level is 7. Grandpa is 24. I can't freaking _believe this!_ "

Sai coughed awkwardly as Hikaru threw his hands up in disgust. "Well," the ghost said. "It should make it much easier to find strong opponents?" he asked hopefully.

"Strong opponents. In Go?" Hikaru asked with disgust.

Sai nodded, eager and hesitant all at once. "And – and if you learned Go, your level should go up?" he offered. "You're already level 2. So you must know something."

"Tch!" Hikaru grunted and turned away. "No way, no way am I going to learn any old man game, no friggen way!"

Sai let out a plaintive little sound and Hikaru folded his arms angrily. It just figured – and for a moment there he'd even been excited about the whole thing too! "This is such a goddamn waste," he muttered. "All the things I could do with this and… and it's just about goddamn _Go_? Freaking waste."

In the window his reflection taunted him, with the backwards [LVL 2] hovering above his head. Hikaru glared at it, imagining all the things that could've been, if the world hadn't decided to just flat out _suck_.

Hikaru turned back to Sai, glancing up at the [LVL 99+] before staring at Sai hard enough for the [Thousand Years] quest to pop up again. After a moment of glaring, Hikaru reached out, and tapped a finger against _yes_.

Sai blinked at him. "You want to learn about my history?" he asked delightedly and then quickly straightened his back, hands held neatly in his lap. "I was born in Heian Kyo…"

Hikaru sat down and resentfully listened to every word of Sai's tale of court life and its many delights and twists and eventually tragedies, all the way until his assignment as Go tutor and his eventually downfall at the hands of his fellow teacher, who challenged him, cheated in a game, and had Sai banished from capital.

As Sai spoke of the river where he'd drowned, a notice popped up in front of Hikaru.

[ **Thousand Years** ]  
[Fujiwara no Sai is a thousand year old ghost who in life was the Go tutor to the Emperor. As one of two tutors, he was tasked with teaching the Emperor's family and close friends the intricacies of the board game Go.]  
[Quest complete!]  
[Quest reward: 300 exp, 5 FP with Fujiwara no Sai]

Sai stuttered to a halt in his story as Hikaru _dinged_. "You are, ah," he said and motioned above Hikaru's head. "You are level three, now."

Hikaru harrumphed angrily. "Great, just great," he said, even as new quest notice popped up.

[ **Thousand Years** ]  
[Fujiwara no Sai is a thousand year old ghost, who found no rest in death and remained on Earth to chase after his dream, the Hand of God.]  
[Quest (2/?): Learn more about Fujiwara no Sai.]  
[Quest reward: 300 exp, 2 FP with Fujiwara no Sai.]  
[Accept Quest: Yes / No]

Irritated, Hikaru hit _yes_.

* * *

 

By the end of the day, Hikaru was level 4, and knew more about the intricacies of Heian court life and about life a hundred and fifty years back than he really cared to. Sai, he found, could go on and on about all of it – so long as it was about Go anyway. And if it was about Go… there was a chance it might given Hikaru exp just to hear it, quest or not.

While Hikaru still resented the fact that his awesome video game life turned out to be about _Go_  after all, he couldn't deny that there was a sort of thrill, watching the EXP rack up. Only… after level 4, it had kind of stalled.

"I think it might help… if you learned how to play Go?" Sai offered hesitantly and eagerly at the same time. "I could teach you, and we could play – and your level will surely rise even faster than with stories!"

Hikaru narrowed his eyes at him because he was _so_  onto him, but… Sai probably had a point. Except Hikaru wasn't sure if he even wanted to bother with it. What was the point in learning Go, just to get levels in something no one but him – and Sai – would ever even know about? It was like playing solitaire, but with more hallucinations.

Hikaru glanced up at the [LVL 99+] sitting atop Sai's head and narrowed his eyes further. That, he could admit freely, kind of ticked him off. Everything about the whole thing ticked him off. His own [LVL 4] ticked him off.

… He wanted more levels.

"Damnit," Hikaru muttered. "Fine, goddamn it. I'm going to learn Go, then. And screw my life anyway!"

* * *

 

Sai, it turned out, sucked as a teacher – he talked in terms and used words Hikaru didn't understand and kept leaping ahead on all the explanations and when Hikaru snapped at him about it, he got all flustered and then could get nothing at all across. So, in the end, Hikaru ditched him as a teacher, and found himself some actual Go classes.

"It's a bit unusual to see someone so young interested in Go," Shirakawa asked curiously. "You're a beginner?"

"Yeah, I guess," Hikaru said, morosely staring above the man's head.

[Go Professional]  
[ **Shirakawa Michio** ]  
[LVL 33]  
[HP 32 / MP 634]

"Do you mind if I ask you why you're interested in Go?" Shirakawa asked, smiling encouragingly.

"It's a game," Hikaru shrugged and sighed at himself. The whole thing was so lame.

"It's not lame – look at all of these people, wanting to learn Go!" Sai enthused, leaning in to look in on nearby games. "Everyone is so excited and dedicated! This is wonderful!"

Hikaru sighed again and Shirakawa smiled. "Well, how about we start with the basics?" the man said, and then motioned to the goban at Hikaru's left. "I'll put down some problems for you here, see if you can figure out how to solve them, alright?"

Hikaru watched dully as the man set out some black and white stones on the board and, of course… there was a quest.

[ **Tsumego** ]  
[Tsumego are life and death problems in Go, usually local problems that can be solved with one or more moves. Tsumego are among the best ways to improve in Go!]  
[Quest (1/?): Solve 10 simple Tsumego problems.]  
[Quest reward: 500 exp]  
[Accept Quest: Yes / No]

Hikaru blinked and leaned in. That was the most exp any one quest had given him so far. "Are Tsumego really the best way to improve in Go?" Hikaru asked Shirakawa.

"They are a very good way to improve, yes," Shirakawa agreed and finished setting the board. "Though, one should never knock a good old fashioned _game_  either. Now, let me see if you can solve these ones?"

Sai leaned in while Hikaru scanned the board. "You need to surround white with black to capture white stones and territory," the ghost whispered and Hikaru almost elbowed him in the face because goddamnit, he wasn't an idiot, he so _got this_.

It took him about a minute to figure out all ten problems.

[ **Tsumego** ]  
[Tsumego are life and death problems in Go, usually local problems that can be solved with one or more moves. Tsumego are among the best ways to improve in Go!]  
[Quest complete!]  
[Quest reward: 500 exp]

Hikaru _dinged_  and Sai did a happy little dance in congratulations beside him. It took some effort for Hikaru not to _preen_. Level 5, hell yeah!

Shirakawa nodded proudly. "Well done," he said and for a moment Hikaru thought he too had seen the level up flash. But the pro was staring at the board, not him. "You've got the basics well in hand, I see. I have to look in on others, but if you'd like, I can think of a few more Tsumego problems for you in the mean while."

"Yes, please!" Hikaru said eagerly. "Um, hey, actually – is there a way for me to do Tsumego on my own, though? Like, at home? They, uh," he shrugged awkwardly because it wasn't as if he could say _they seem like a good way to get some exp_. "They seem fun."

Shirakawa grinned, obviously delighted by his enthusiasm. "There are countless Tsumego books for sale – I might even have one with me I could show you. The problems might be bit too high level for a beginner, but it should give you an idea of what to look for," he said. "Just hold that thought for a moment."

Hikaru grinned after him. He was going to get _so much exp_ …

"Well," Sai said beside him with a sort of exasperated fondness. "That's one reason to learn Go, I suppose."

Hikaru grinned and leaned back to wait when he heard at another table a couple of old guys playing. One of them was being pretty loud.

"Aw, man, it's like you're terrible on purpose!" one of them said. "Look, I'm taking all of these stones here – it's like you're just giving them to me now. Are you sure you actually know how to play this?"

[The Great 'Do]  
[ **Akota Kazuki** ]  
[LVL 8]  
[HP 24 / MP 3]

Hikaru blinked as Sai drew an affronted breath and then, of course, there was a quest.

[ **Side Quests of Go** ]  
[There are many stories about Go, there are many players. Some of them aren't so good, and some take pleasure in winding up others. Akota Kazuki is a low level player who enjoys picking on those with lesser skill. Someone should really teach that guy a lesson!]  
[Quest (1/?): Teach Akota a lesson]  
[Quest Reward: 200 exp]  
[Accept Quest: Yes / No]

"Let's go Hikaru!" Sai said vehemently. "That man is making a mockery of Go, bullying weaker players like that! Let me play him – I will teach him a lesson he will not soon forget!"

Hikaru grinned. There were side quests! _Sweet_.

* * *

 

"What are you doing?" Akari asked, leaning in to look at Hikaru's book. "Um. Is that… Sudoku?"

"No it's not Sudoku!" Hikaru said and glanced at her – and then, of course, up at her stats.

It was becoming automatic, to check out everyone stats.

[Student]  
[ **Fujisaki Akari** ]  
[LVL 1]  
[HP 12 / MP 6]

No change there.

"It's a, well. It's Tsumego. I guess it's a game. Kinda," Hikaru said awkwardly and held out the book for her to look at. "They're Go problems. I'm doing them because, uh. It's. Uh. Fun?" And also, because he was currently level 7 and absolutely _killing_  it on the exp gaining.

Sai sighed at him, shaking his head.

"Fun?" Akari said, blinking and then sat beside him. "It looks confusing. How do you play it?"

[ **Road of Go** ]  
[Go is a noble, ancient game of territory capture for two players, with abstract strategies and thousands of ways to play. Originating in ancient China more than 5500 years ago, it has been played across the ages and its popularity shows no signs of waving!]  
[Quest (1/?): Teach the basics of Go to Fujisaki Akari]  
[Quest reward: 600 exp, 3 FP with Fujisaki Akari]  
[Accept quest: Yes / No]

Hikaru blinked. 600 exp just for teaching Akari the basics of Go? That was basically exp for _free_. Hell yeah!

He hit accept, pretending to be stretching, and then patted the seat beside him. "Alright, I'll show you. It's pretty simple, actually," he said and leafed through the Tsumego book to the very first pages, which explained the basics of Atari. "So, you play with two sets of stones, black and white, and whoever gets more territory wins. This is how you play…"

Akari stared at him strangely and then looked down at the book, and then back at him again. Behind her, Sai was peering in as well, grinning slightly behind his open fan. Hikaru pretty much ignored both of them. He had a quest to do, and exp to gain.

"So, this is how you do Tsumego. You gotta capture the other stones, right?" Hikaru said. "So here's the problem, and you need to figure out how to get the stones. Look here, where do you need to put the black stone, to get the whites?"

"Um," Akari said, sounding baffled, and then pointed on the page. "Here?"

"Yeah!" Hikaru said, nodding excitedly. "Okay, how about on this one?"

"Uh, let me see," Akari muttered and scowled at the page, trying to look for a place to place her hypothetical black stone. "Umm… here? No, wait, that's not right, it's still open on the bottom – it's here, right?"

Hikaru nodded and went to turn the page when beside him Akari shifted where she sat – and then _dinged_  to LVL 2. Hikaru looked up with surprise, which she answered with a confused blink. Behind her, Sai's eyebrows shifted up.

So, other people could level up too.

That, Hikaru decided, was kind of awesome.

* * *

 

"It's amazing, it truly is, that you're enjoying Go in your… in your own way," Sai said and sighed. "But I wish I could play for myself, too. It has been so long…"

"You're already level 99 _plus_ ," Hikaru muttered, leafing through the Tsumego book. "What's the point when you're already too high level for the thing to comprehend how high your level even is?"

Sai sighed again. "I hardly care about the level – it is the actual game I enjoy," he mused sadly. "I love Go for the sake of Go, not because of some… raking system. I enjoy the game, the struggle, the intricacy of strategy and delicacy of planning. Oh, I wish I could play again…"

Hikaru eyed him for a moment and then closed the Tsumego book. Well, ranking or not, Sai was a player. And yeah, Hikaru enjoyed Go… differently, but that didn't mean that Sai didn't enjoy it in his way too. And, Hikaru had to admit, he'd probably miss it a bit if he had to stop now.

He'd gotten kind of used to it now, the game. Go and his life both. It was probably a bit like that to Sai too.

"Hmm," he hummed and folded his arms. "I wonder… do you think I'll get exp from actually playing Go?"

The look of delighted excitement on Sai's face told him clear enough that it was worth enough to try.

* * *

 

Hikaru used his allowance to buy a plastic, magnetic goban and it was actually worth every yen. Even as Sai made all sorts of faces at the flimsy little thing, he was instantly up for a game – at which point Hikaru figured out the actual sheer _difference_  between their levels.

Sai was way, way, way above level 99, probably. It took him absolutely _no effort_  at all to kick Hikaru's ass right off the magnetic goban. It was just a few moves, and Hikaru was just _demolished_.

 However…

[You've gained 100 exp!] floated in front of Hikaru for a moment, even as Sai giggled to himself sheepishly over his frankly brutal victory. Hikaru blinked at the exp notification and then looked at the tiny goban between him and Sai and then looked at Sai.

"Again," Hikaru said, and they played again, Sai gleefully pointing out devastating moves for Hikaru to be destroyed by. That game was even shorter than the first one because apparently, mercy just wasn't in Sai's vocabulary.

[You've gained 100 exp!] a floating notification informed Hikaru afterwards, which rather soothed the sting of his quick defeat.

Sai utterly destroyed him on the magnetic goban a couple more times, before he finally calmed down enough to notice the look of unholy glee in Hikaru's face – and the fact that it had been Hikaru, not Sai, demanding another game.

"This," Hikaru decided, grinning widely. "Is _awesome._ "

"Oh?" Sai said, eying him and then the goban and then at the stats above Hikaru's face. Then he narrowed his eyes and sat on his knees beside Hikaru. "Hm. Let us try something different," he said then thoughtfully and motioned at the Goban. "Put as many black stones on the Goban as you please, Hikaru. I'm going to show you… Shidougo."

"Shidougo?" Hikaru asked.

Sai smiled, sweet and smug. "A teaching game."

[ **Road of Go** ]  
[There are many ways to learn and teach Go, and as many styles of tutelage as there are Go players. There is no right or wrong way to play Go – there is only Go.]  
[Quest (4/?): Learn the basics of a Teaching Game.]  
[Quest reward: 600 exp, 1 FP with Fujiwara no Sai]  
[Accept quest: Yes / No]

Shidougo, Hikaru figured out in about twenty minutes – and 1200 exp later, because Shidougo games gave triple the exp compared to normal games – was the freaking _best thing ever!_

* * *

 

"What are you doing?" Sai asked.

Hikaru had his eyes shut tightly and his fingers pressed into his forehead, and his whole face was scrunched up in concentration. "I'm trying," he said, "To add a leader board."

"What is that?" Sai asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

"It's a ranking list about the top players," Hikaru answered, fingernails digging into his skin as he concentrated. "I wanna know who the strongest players are. So. Leaderboard. Leaderboard leaderboard leaderboard…"

"Oh, that sounds interesting," Sai said, shifting closer. "I want to know who the strongest player out there is, too!"

So they concentrated together, Hikaru trying to twist his whole brain around until finally Sai let out a small gasp. Grinning, Hikaru opened his eyes and there it was, a new window right in front of him.

[ **General Go Rankings, Japan** ]  
[ **Sorted by: level** ]  
[ _Fujiwara no Sai, LVL 99+]_  
[Toya Koyo, LVL 95]  
[Kuwabara Kichirou, LVL 94]  
[Zama Gorou, LVL 91]  
[Ogata Seiji, LVL 89]  
…

None of the names meant anything, except for the first one and Sai's name was greyed out on the leaderboard, naturally, seeing that he was dead and all. But there was a leaderboard! And with some concentration Hikaru even managed to tweak it a bit, so that he got pro rankings into it and then, after some more concentration, ages.

"Hm… Toya Koyo," Sai hummed, tapping the name below his on the leaderboard. "I would very much like to play him, if he really is the strongest."

Hikaru didn't listen – he was too busy with another leader board window, sorting the rankings by age, eager to see where he, as newly _dinged_  level 11, ranked up against his age mates.

[ **Go Rankings,**  J **apan** ]  
[ **Sorted by: Age: 12** ]  
[Toya Akira, LVL 23]  
[Nakajina Akane LVL 21]  
[Yashiro Kiyoharu, LVL 15]  
[Fukui Yuuta, LVL 14]  
[Shindo Hikaru, LVL 11]  
…

Hikaru stared at the list. Honestly, he hadn't _really_  expected to see himself anywhere near the top – but he was the fifth! He was ranked the fifth! Fifth strongest 12 year old in Japan!

"Well," he said, coughing. "I guess not _that_  many twelve year olds play Go. I mean. It's an old man's game."

"Hmm," Sai answered, casting a thoughtful sideways glance at him, eyes narrowed slightly. He looked like he was about to say something, and then thought better of it. "Perhaps," he said instead noncommittally and then tapped his folded fan against his lips. "Toya Akira and Toya Koyo. I wonder if they're related."

"Same family maybe? Who knows," Hikaru hummed and narrowed his eyes at the rank list. Fifth strongest twelve year old in Japan...

Wonder what he would have to do, to become the first?

* * *

 

A couple days after Hikaru had added leader boards into his life – and Sai had became obsessed with the name of Toya Koyo – Akari dragged Hikaru to the Haze School Festival.

"We're both going to go to Haze, right, so we should go have a look," Akari said excitedly. "They might have Go club, you know! That'd be pretty cool, wouldn't it, if we could join the same club?"

"Go club?" Hikaru asked, idly letting her drag him along. "Huh. Didn't think people did Go as like… a club activity." Wonder how much exp he could get from joining a club?

And of course the moment he thought of it…

[ **Road of Go** ]  
[There are hundreds and thousands of small and big communities built around the enjoyment of the game Go. From study groups to high school extra curricular clubs, from Go salons to professional Go associations, there are many Go-enthusiastic societies out there!]  
[Quest: Join the Haze School Go Club]  
[Quest reward: 400 exp, 5 FP with Tsutsui Kimihiro]  
[Accept quest: Yes / No]

Hikaru hit _yes_  with a stretch and then followed Akari into the general bustle of the festival, curious to see what kind of club a Go club was. The festival was in full swing around them, with snacks being cooked all around, and there were a whole bunch of people, peeking into stalls and asking questions about clubs.

Where was the Go club though? Hikaru could see volley ball and baseball and basketball and every other kind of ball too – he could even see the Shogi club banner being waved about. But no sight of a Go club.

"I need a navigation system," Hikaru muttered and wondered if he could force it into existence. He'd managed to add the leader boards…

"Hikaru, Hikaru!" Sai said excitedly, nudging at his side. "Over there – there is a boy with a goban!"

"Akari," Hikaru said, nudging her shoulder in turn, and together they headed to check the Go club out. The boy at the goban was showing an old man some Tsumego – and just like that, Hikaru decided that he was going to be _great_  friends with the guy.

[Haze Middle High Go Club Captain]  
[ **Tsutsui Kimihiro** ]  
[LVL 12]  
[HP 16 / MP 34]

So, the guy he needed to talk to about getting the next [Road of Go] quest done, and which would get him 5 friendship points with the guy. Sweet. After checking the guy's stats curiously, Hikaru leaned in to see the Tsumego on the board. It wasn't a familiar one and he couldn't tell the solution right away.

"Haha, it's way too hard for me," the old guy said. "Ah, man, they make some tricky problems. You got me beat, kid."

"It would take me a bit time to figure it out too," Tsutsui said, smiling. He had a book in hand, a Tsumego book – a pretty thick one too. Hikaru stared at it covetously as Tsutsui leafed through the pages. "Do you want me to make you another one? There are still some lower level ones I could try.

"Nah, that's alright – I've got to see if I can find my granddaughter somewhere in this hullabaloo," the old guy said with a shake of his head and stood up. "Hope you find some members for your club, kid."

"Yeah," Tsutsui said and then looked up at Hikaru and Akari with surprise. "Hello," he said and brightened up. "Hey are you going to be Haze students? Are you interested in Go?"

"Yeah, I guess," Akari said and laughed. "I'm not like Hikaru though – he's a total nut about this stuff."

"Hey," Hikaru said and pointed at the board. "Can I try solving this one?" Higher level problems gave better exp.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, go ahead!" Tsutsui said, almost bouncing in his seat. "My name is Tsutsui – I run the Haze Middle School Go Club. I can't even tell you how happy I am that someone's interested! Have you been playing Go for long?"

"Couple of weeks?" Akari admitted, leaning onto the table. "Hikaru kind of dragged me into it."

"Yeah, kicking and screaming because you were _so obviously_  against the idea," Hikaru muttered, rolling his eyes before looking intensely at the board. He'd gotten in total almost 2000 points of exp just from teaching Akari and showing her Tsumego and stuff – even if she hadn't been into it, it was well worth the effort.

"Yeah, well. It's kind of fun, I guess," Akari shrugged. "Beats breaking and entering."

"Um," Tsutsui said, looking between them. "If you've only been playing for a couple of weeks… maybe I could make you some simpler problems? I got plenty, and I got some rewards for the simple Tsumego too - you don't have to try the too hard ones –"

"Here," Hikaru said and pointed at the board. "First hand goes here."

[You've gained 150 exp!]

"Well done, Hikaru," Sai commented proudly and Hikaru grinned. Got it right in one. Hell yeah.

Tsutsui blinked and looked down. "… That's right," he said and pushed his glasses higher up on his nose too. "Huh. So um. How long have you been playing?" he asked.

Hikaru shrugged and grinned wider. "Can you show me some more Tsumego?" he asked, because there was some good exp to be had here, and he didn't even have to buy a Tsumego book for it! "Gimme all of the hard problems – gimme the hardest ones!"

"The hardest ones?" Tsutsui asked and leafed through the book. "Are you sure? There's some pretty hard ones here… hmm here's one. If you can do this one, then you're probably the same level as Toya Akira."

"Nah, there's still, like, twelve levels in between," Hikaru said automatically and then blinked with surprise, looking at Tsutsui with surprise. "Toya Akira?" he asked. "You know Toya Akira?"

"Well, not personally or anything, but everyone who's really into Go knows _about_  him at least," Tsutsui said and started setting down the stones. "I think he's going to try and become a pro this year – I mean, everyone thought he'd do it last year too, but…"

"Pro," Hikaru repeated. LVL 23 was good enough to become a pro? "Huh," he hummed and glanced at Sai who was looking back with interest. Probably everyone on the top ranks were pros too, huh? Shirakawa was level 33… so everyone above that was probably a pro. Except for Sai.

"So that Toya Akira guy, he's pretty strong, huh?" Hikaru asked.

"I guess it's the effect of being the Meijin's son," Tsutsui said somewhat wistfully. "His whole childhood must've been full of Go. You can't help but get strong in that kind of environment."

"Meijin?" Hikaru asked, blinking.

"Toya Meijin – I mean, Toya Koyo, his father," Tsutsui shrugged.

"Um. What?" Hikaru asked, even as Sai perked up beside him.

"It's a… pro title?" Tsutsui asked, giving him a strange, curious look. Then, at Hikaru's blank stare, he explained.

Apparently, there were _tournaments_  and _leagues_  for pro players to actually _compete in_! And there were ranking games and stuff, and of course the people did it as their job so they were playing Go pretty much all the time – but with the tournaments and stuff, they could earn titles. And _money_.

Hikaru's heart leapt a bit at the thought. Just how much exp could you get by playing the _pros_?

"If you need to be around level twenty three to become a professional, then you are still some ways off," Sai commented thoughtfully. "And levels take more exp now, don't they?"

Yeah, it had taken three days of nothing but straight Shidougo with Sai to make it to LVL 11. They _obviously_  needed more ways to get exp. He needed more levels, ASAP.

Sai sighed. "Obviously," he said mournfully. "I want to play Go, too," he murmured forlornly.

"Hey, Tsutsui?" Hikaru said, as the LVL 12 finished setting up the stones. "I want to learn more Go – what are like really good ways to learn Go? And play it too, but not like," he looked for a word. "Not like for real?"

"Um, what?" Tsutsui asked confusedly. "I mean, uh, Tsumego is a pretty good way I think, but, I don't… uh, you want to play but not for real? What do you mean?"

Hikaru sighed, leaning back a bit. "Actual Go games take too long," he said. "And also I don't want to go out looking for opponents and Akari sucks –"

"Hey! I just started!" Akari complained with a pout.

"Yeah, yeah. So is there like… I don't know. A PlayStation game or something I could play at home?" Hikaru asked with a shrug. "That would make my life so much simpler. I mean, they've got machines than can play chess, right?"

"Yes, but Go is lot more complicated than chess," Tsutsui said and pushed his glasses higher up his nose, looking thoughtful. "Hmm. I don't know about PlayStation games, I've never played myself, but I heard you can play Go over the internet? I haven't tried, but I've seen the Netgo presentations at conventions and stuff."

"Conventions?" Hikaru asked excitedly. "Netgo? What's that? Where are the conventions – are there any nearby, or soon?"

"Ugh, geez," someone muttered and they all looked up to see a red haired boy in a haori walking past them. "Go is for _nerds_ ," he muttered derisively at them and then walked away without another word, a cigarette in hand.

Hikaru blinked after him and then glanced up at the boy's head.

[Haze Middle School Shogi Club Captain]  
[ **Kaga Tetsuo** ]  
[LVL 14]  
[HP 34 / MP 12]

"Like you're the one to speak, Kaga!" Tsutsui called after him and shook his head. "Don't mind him, that's the Shogi Club captain – used to play Go himself, but something happened, I guess, so he's a bit of a – he's kind of cross about it."

"Huh," Hikaru answered. "He's a better player than you and he plays Shogi? Man what a waste."

"How do you know he's better than me?" Tsutsui asked, blinking, looking only a bit insulted.

Hikaru shrugged. Truth was in the levels. "So, about the conventions and Netgo and all…"

* * *

 

Hikaru went to one Go convention – a small event at some hotel where a couple of pros were playing and there were a whole bunch of teaching games. There were also exhibitions about Go and stuff, with gobans and stuff on sale and so on. It mostly looked like an excuse for a lot of old, rich looking guys to get drunk and appear classy about it.

"Oh, this is exciting," Sai said. "Look, look, they're playing Go over there!"

They were playing Go _everywhere_ , Hikaru thought, shoving his hands into his pockets. His eyes lingered for a moment on a table that had a bunch of Go tutorial and Tsumego books on display, he'd definitely stop by and see if they were any cheaper than in bookstores, but that could wait.

Time to see if he could get some exp here.

So he wandered around the convention, listening in on a couple of teaching games - [You've gained 50 exp!] – walking by some random go discussions – [You've gained 50 exp!] – and watching part of the actual main presentation, where the pros were playing and some commentators were explaining everything – [You've gained 50 exp!]. Overall, it didn't seem there was much exp to be gained in the place.

"But it's still so exciting," Sai said enthusiastically. "All these people playing go! It's wonderful. Hikaru, Hikaru, I want to play too, Hikaru could I just – there's a board open over there, Hikaru, come on, let's go play!"

Hikaru looked and, lo and behold, there was indeed a board open. It was by one of the teaching games, where a pro was playing an amateur and explaining everything he was doing. Hikaru considered it and then grinned. A teaching game with Sai, plus a pro right next to him…

[Go Professional]  
[ **Ogata Seiji** ]  
[LVL 89]  
[HP 36 / MP 143]

Oh man, [LVL 89], that was ridiculous. Ogata Seiji though... that seemed familiar somehow.

"Isn't he one from the leader board?" Sai asked, his eyes lighting up. "He is one of the strongest players in Japan!"

Hikaru sauntered over to the table and after a questioning glance at the pro and his opponent, took a seat beside him. The pro glanced at him curiously but kept on explaining something about influence and stuff to his student. Listening in on it, Hikaru took both of the stone bowls and while Sai took a seat across from him, he played the first hand.

"…as opposed to here," Ogata was saying, pointing at the board, and Hikaru glanced at the board to see what he meant. "The connection is much firmer there – play a hand here, and white has much more options in the corner, but here, white is forced to defend."

"Oh, I see, I see," the old amateur guy answered and took a black stone, placing it where the pro was pointing. "So, I go over there, then. And you go over – there? Right, Ogata-sensei?"

"That would be the obvious move, yes," the pro said and placed a white stone accordingly. "Now, I'm defending my territory here, stopping your advance – that is how your opponent might play in a normal game. However, say I go here instead," he moved the white stone. "What would that mean for your territory here?"

Hikaru leaned in and got it almost immediately. Ten moves in, and one of black's clusters would die, and not much after that the territory would go to white.

[You've gained 50 exp!]

Alright, maybe it was worth it after all, coming to the convention.

"Hikaru," Sai said and pointed at the board between them – as if he too wasn't paying more attention to the teaching going on beside them. Hikaru glanced at him and then the board and played Sai's hand and then his own.

So he and Sai played, while Hikaru watched the teaching game going on slowly beside them. If Ogata or his student minded, neither of them said anything about Hikaru's nosiness – if anything, the student seemed pleased by the interest.

Hikaru, in the meantime, racked up exp in the hundreds, both from Sai teaching him and watching the pro teach the old guy. By the time the teaching game finished beside them with the pro explaining some stuff about yose, a giddy Hikaru was damn sure he was close to level 12.

"Thanks for the lesson, Ogata-sensei, I really appreciate it," the old guy said as he stood up.

"It was my pleasure, Tsukuda-san," the pro said, and then, as the old man hurried away, probably to brag to his old man friends about how he played a pro, the pro himself turned to Hikaru.

"Well, did you learn something?" the man asked thoughtfully and then looked down at Hikaru's and Sai's game and just – froze.

"Yup," Hikaru grinned. "Yeah, I learned a bunch, thanks."

"Is this – is this a game you played with someone?" the man asked, motioning at the board.

"Um. Yeah?" Hikaru said and then stopped. Right. Sai. Invisible ghost hallucination who wasn't actually there. "I mean – yeah. Obviously," he coughed and quickly reached out to clear the board, avoiding looking at Sai.

"No, no, wait – let me have a look," the pro said and leaned in. "Your teacher is… very good. Is he a professional?"

"Ah, no, not at all," Hikaru said awkwardly, leaning away a bit. "Just some guy I uh –" he looked desperately around for excuse and – there, computer! "It's just over the internet. Netgo, you know."

"Hm," the pro said, thoughtful. "I didn't know there were that strong players on Netgo."

"There's all sorts of people," Hikaru said, as if he had any idea, and quickly scooted away. "Listen, thanks for letting me watch your game and all, but I really gotta go now. Thanks, man, bye!"

"Man?" the pro asked, scowling, but Hikaru was already on his feet and running. "Hey, wait -!"

Sai hummed, flowing beside Hikaru as he fled. "I would have liked to play that man," he said wistfully. "He must have great skill."

Well yeah, obviously – the guy was a pro, Hikaru thought. Well, who knew? Maybe the guy would now start playing Netgo and once they got a computer and stuff, Sai could play the guy there.

"Oh, really, Hikaru?" Sai asked, excitedly. "Can we get one right now?"

* * *

 

[ **Road of Go** ]  
[With the dawn of information technology, even the ancient games are swept along with the rising tide! There are now ways to play people in distant lands, all at the push of a button.]  
[Quest (14/?): Play 5 games of Netgo]  
[Quest reward: 500 exp]  
[Accept quest: Yes / No]

[ **Thousand Years** ]  
[Having joined the modern era with Shindo Hikaru, Fujiwara no Sai has entered a whole new world of technology and possibility. Where before the only possibility of play lay in playing with others, there are now new means to play – and to establish reputation.]  
[Quest (11/?): Teach Fujiwara no Sai to play Netgo]  
[Quest Reward: 300 exp, 3 FP with Fujiwara no Sai]  
[Accept quest: Yes / No]

* * *

 

"Mom can I get a computer?" Hikaru asked, bright eyed and imploring.

"A… computer?" Shindo Mitsuko asked with surprise. "What would you use a computer for?"

"For… learning stuff?" Hikaru asked hopefully. "And playing Go? You can play Go online you know, so I just need a computer and internet and then I can play as much as I want!"

"Just a computer and internet connection, huh?" she said, not sounding very impressed. "Just that?"

"Yup, just that," Hikaru said, grinning.

"Hm," she answered and turned back to the food. "No."

"But mo-om!"

Well thankfully computer classrooms, library computers, and in pinch internet cafés, were a thing.

* * *

 

"Hm," Hikaru looked at the screen. It had taken a bit of time, but he'd sort of figured it out – with the help of an over-bearing librarian. He now had a nick on Netgo called _no.5_  and he'd even played the five games for his next [Road of Go] quest, though it was still a bit too slow for his tastes. It turned out that Netgo games weren't actually that much faster than normal games.

They did give exp though, so that was fun.

"Now, for the next one," Hikaru muttered and logged out of the _no.5_  account, and then started making another one.

Sai leaned in, staring in wordless amazement as Hikaru wrote down, letter by letter, s, a, i. "Hikaru?" he asked, shifting in anxious excitement. "Really, Hikaru? _Really,_  really?"

" _Really,_  really," Hikaru said with a grin, as the quest reward announcement popped into existence. "Now let's see what I can do with this…" because quest or not, just watching Sai play wasn't going to get him his sweet, sweet exp. Some optimisation had to be done here.

"There, you play that one," Hikaru said, selecting an opponent for _sai_  at random. "I'm going to try something."

"Yes!" Sai gasped excitedly and pointed at the screen. "17-4!"

[ **Thousand Years** ]  
[Having joined the modern era with Shindo Hikaru, Fujiwara no Sai has entered a whole new world of technology and possibility. Where before the only possibility play lay in playing with others, there are now new means to play – and to establish reputation.]  
[Quest complete!]  
[Quest Reward: 300 exp, 3 FP with Fujiwara no Sai]

[ **Thousand Years** ]  
[In Netgo there are thousands of opponents from all over the world. At the start of his road of playing Go anonymously online, Fujiwara no Sai is now able to play all of them.]  
[Quest (12/?): Help Fujiwara no Sai start his reputation in Netgo]  
[Quest Reward: 300 exp]  
[Accept quest: Yes / No]

Hikaru hit yes and placed the stones for Sai and then attempted to shift the internet window a bit. It took some zooming in and out and he lost the window for a moment much to Sai's annoyance, but eventually he managed to resize the window so that it only took part of the screen.

Then it turned out he could play in multiple internet windows.

"Um," Sai said, watching him as Hikaru grinned like a lunatic, opening multiple windows of Netgo and sizing them just so that he had 3 windows to Sai's one. "What are you doing, Hikaru?"

" _Grinding_ ," Hikaru said with glow of unholy glee in his eyes, logging in as _no.5_  and starting 3 simultaneous games.

It didn't even matter that he did terribly on all three. The exp gain was truly, truly _sweet_. And, if he paid just enough attention to Sai's game, he even got exp from that too.

It wasn't much after that he _dinged_.

[Number 5]  
[ **Shindo Hikaru** ]  
[LVL 12]  
[HP 15 / MP 76]

Hell yeah. Internet was freaking _best_.

**Author's Note:**

> I will most likely continue this at some point with either second chapter or sequel, but for now this is it.  
> Hope you liked it :3


End file.
